A Wrong Turn
by TwentiesGirl29
Summary: Joey is kicked out of his room by Tea, Tristan, and Duke during Battle City. He decides to go exploring the blimp. Canon. One Shot. Review and favorite if you enjoy!


_A/N: Hello everyone! Procrastinating does wonders for the creative mind. Just wanted to put out a short one shot during finals week (great decisions here). I'm still working very hard on the sequel to "The Pier" so be sure to check that out! This is a one shot that takes place during the Battle City. I try my best to stay true to canon. Also, this follows the same timeline as "The Pier." Just a note to everyone, everything that I am going to write for this couple will follow the same timeline (unless it is an AU in which case it will be totally different). Not confusing at all... Anyways, enjoy, review, and favorite!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh._

_Cheers,_

_TwentiesGirl_

* * *

"Look you guys need to leave! Like now," he said, standing in front of them with his hands on his hips. Tea looked up at him with puppy dog eyes and pulled the lever to recline on the couch.

"Come on Joey, what do you want us to do? They don't have our rooms ready yet," she said pleadingly. Joey shook his head in frustration. His eyes landed on Tristan and Duke wrecking havoc on his mini fridge.

"What the hell are you guys eating? I have to pay for that crap!" He ran forward and grabbed the both of them by their shoulders. He pulled them far back enough to assess the damage that they did to his food. All that was left was crumbled up cheese wrappers and half drunken bottles of soda. "You gotta be kidding me," he muttered under his breath. "Why can't you guys hang out in Yugi's room?" he accused.

"He's busy getting ready for the tournament. We have to let him concentrate," said Duke, wiping away at a few leftover crumbs on the corner of his mouth. Tristan and Tea both nodded simultaneously in assent.

"And what am I? I trained monkey? I'm competing tomorrow too!" he yelled, grabbing the bottle of grape soda away from Tristan's mouth. Tristan sputtered what liquid was already in his mouth.

"Oh yeah, I forgot he was competing too," Duke shrugged sharing a look of surprise with Tea. Joey felt the heat rising up from his chest to his face.

"That's it! Everyone out! I don't care where the hell you guys go, just get the hell out of my room!" Serenity came up and put a hand on his shoulder. He had all but forgotten that she was here.

"Joey, stop. They're hungry and they have nowhere to go. Please, just let them stay," she said looking up at him with her big hazel eyes. Joey felt himself calm down a little bit, emphasis on the little. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket, which was slung over the back of a leather chair.

"Fine," he muttered, shrugging on his navy windbreaker. "But if Kaiba sends me a bill for all this food, I ain't payin it." And with that, he stalked out of the room.

The nerve of those guys, they better be messing around not knowing that he was competing tomorrow, he huffed. He knew that they were probably just saying that to him to get a rise, but still, he wasn't in the mood to be teased. He had just had a spare moment to talk to his sister in private for the first time in what felt like forever and they had barged in ruining everything. What's worse was that they didn't even apologize.

He wasn't kidding about the mini bar. If Kaiba really sent him a bill, he would _not_ pay for it. Joey grabbed his stomach as he felt a deep rumble. Speaking of mini bars, he hadn't eaten since earlier that morning. Joey stopped at a little directory on the wall. Where the hell is the kitchen in this place? A blimp this big had to have a kitchen. Let's see, he was standing in E-4, which was next to the engine room. He looked over his shoulder to check. Okay, so far so good. He eyes quickly moved over the numbered system to see what letter corresponded to the kitchen area. A… B…C…. his finger moved down the list. Kitchen! Okay T-3. So from where he was standing, he had to turn left down the corridor, make a right on the second hallway, pass through the control room, then an immediate left, down that hallway, and the kitchen would be on his right. He blinked. He'd be able to handle that.

Joey walked down the hallway. Okay, so second right, second right. There we go! Second right. Then was it through the control room then a left? Yeah, he was pretty sure. He passed what he thought was Kaiba's room, assuming from the goons that were standing guard in front. He flashed them a quick smile, to their expressionless faces, and continued walking. He had gotten a few steps past the door before he heard a loud sharp laugh emanating from inside the room. Joey shook his head in disgust, not bothering to look back. "What a fucking loon," he mumbled under his breath.

He continued walking until he got into the control room. It seemed to be the only room that didn't follow along with the dull grey motif. Red and white buttons blinked at him. He felt his away around to find the doorknob that led him to the other side. It took him a few tries and he thought he might have pressed a few buttons in the process, but he was finally able to get out. Joey stood on the other side of the door and scratched the back of his head. There were two doors, both on the left, one after another. Shit. Was it an immediate turn? Or was it the second door on the left?

He peeked through both doors. Maybe one would be a dead end. Nope, they were both long corridors. He felt his stomach grumble again. Why the hell did Kaiba have to make the damn blimp so big! He punched the side of the second door and walked through it.

Ten minutes later he was sure that he was lost. He had taken turn after turn knowing that each one was taking him farther and farther away from the kitchen. Joey finally stopped in his tracks and took a long breath. At this rate, it'd be more efficient if he just ate the cheese crumbs from the wrappers left in his mini bar than find the stupid kitchen. He stopped outside a door and twisted the knob. Okay, if this wasn't the kitchen, he'd go back to his room. He slowly opened it, willing the contents on the other side to not let him down. But alas, it was an empty room with a lone sofa against one side of the wall. The entire front wall of the room facing the sofa was made of glass. Joey felt his body get dejected. He sighed, he guess that he would just go to bed hungry tonight. He reached over to the light panel and turned off the lights, letting the brightness from the bustling city beneath illuminate the room. He plopped himself down on the sofa in one tired hop and twisted so that his arms were placed comfortably behind his head. He looked out into the sea of lights and let out a contented breath through his nose. He was still hungry, but this wasn't so bad.

He knew that his friends were messing around with him. He did. But, sometimes he was more adept at handling it. The times when it actually got to him was when it hit a little too close to home. He knew that Yugi was a great duelist, but sometimes he wanted a little recognition too. Granted he wasn't at Yugi's level, but hey, who was? The thing that his friends sometimes neglected to realize was that even though he was as big of a supporter of Yugi as they were, if not more so, he was a duelist himself. They didn't have to deal with being in Yugi's shadow because they didn't duel. Joey reached up and grabbed his temples to massage them between his thumb and index finger. Man, he hated when he had those thoughts.

All of a sudden, Joey heard footsteps that were getting progressively louder. But instead of lifting his head to see who it was, he felt too tired to bother. It was probably one of Kaiba's goons patrolling the area. Why the hell does the guy have so many security guards everywhere? What is he keeping on the blimp, a fucking treasure chest? Joey laid comfortably as he heard the footsteps approaching his room. If they kicked him out, he'd go, but until then, he was going to chill.

However, as the footsteps got so close that they were only a few feet away from his room, he realized that they belonged to someone wearing heels, explaining the short staccato taps. Before he could say anything, Mai walked into the room. She couldn't see him because the lights were turned off. She turned her head to his direction, but because the room was so dark, she assumed that the couch didn't already have an inhabitant. Joey knew that he should have said something, and he was! But, Mai walked in and sat down so quickly that he didn't have a chance to. When she sat down she gave a loud yelp and stood right back up as if someone had lit a fire beneath her.

"Mai it's okay. It's me," he said, reaching a hand out towards her. The brink of laughter in his voice was obvious. He heard her frantic breaths as she laid a hand on her chest to try to calm herself.

"Joey?" she peered at him as she craned her neck closer to try to see in the dark room. "What the hell—" she said quickly as she walked over to the light panel next to the door and quickly brightened the room. "Do you want to explain why you are sitting in a completely dark room? Are you _trying_ to give people a heart attack?"

He laughed, sitting upright and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Not purposefully no. But granted, it's pretty damn funny when it happens."

She rolled her eyes.

"You're such a loser," she said before turning to leave.

"Hey wait!" he called out to her. "Stay." He patted the seat next to him on the couch.

"What are you crazy? Why would I stay after that little stunt?" she asked dumbfounded. Joey let out a frustrated breath and rolled his eyes.

"Look I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose. You didn't give me time to say something," he said as earnestly as he could. "Not get over here and turn off the lights."

Mai crinkled an eyebrow.

"I'm serious! Turn off the lights and come over here. You'll see."

Mai muttered something unintelligible under her breath, but obliged. She was probably curious as to why he wanted her to turn off the lights. When she turned the switch and the room once again fell into darkness, Mai's breath hitched as she saw why he wanted the lights off.

Joey sat back and crosses his arms behind his neck. He couldn't see her fully, but the bright lights of the city beneath them illuminated her outline. She gave a little hum of contentment and turned over her shoulder to look at him. He gave her a little smirk of triumph. _I told you so_. He patted the seat next to him again. Mai hesitated, but eventually she sat down next to him, tucking her legs beneath her. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"What are you doing over here anyway?" he asked her. She shrugged and gave him an impatient click of the tongue.

"When I got to my room, there weren't any sheets on the bed, so I asked one of the maids what happened and it turns out that they forgot. So they told me that they would fix it right away. Sandy offered to text me when it was finished."

He smiled.

"And how long has right away been?"

Mai pretended to check her watch.

"Right away has been about an hour if you want to know."

Joey chuckled. Mai looked at him for a moment before her expression turned suspicious.

"What's wrong?" she asked him bluntly. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Nothing's wrong." He chuckled timidly.

"Something is. Why are you sitting in a dark room?"

He laughed at how downright accusatory she sounded.

"Have you _seen _this view? We couldn't have seen it if the lights were on," he said giving her a genial smile. Mai didn't miss a beat with her response.

"Is this about Yugi and how your friends are treating him like he is the greatest thing since cheese fries?"

Joey almost choked. How could she have known? Was it really that obvious?

Mai shrugged.

"They were being pretty obnoxious in the car ride here," she said.

Joey sighed. There really wasn't anything that the girl missed.

"It could have something to do with that," he said softly, playing with a stray thread on the arm of the sofa. Mai paused for a beat.

"If you ask me—" she began.

"I didn't," he interrupted. Mai glared daggers at him, but otherwise ignored his comment.

"If you ask me," she began again a bit more vehemently, "I think it takes a really strong and confident person to be so supportive of someone else."

Joey knew that he should've thanked her, but he didn't. Mai wasn't really the kind of person to reach out and lend someone a compliment, so he was shocked that she as doing so now. He blinked in surprise.

"I wish that I had it in me," she finished. At that moment, a strong beam of light from down below hit the window, illuminating the both of them in a bright light for a brief second. Joey looked at Mai and saw how sincere her eyes were.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, his tone a little softer. He scooted closer to her. A carefree laugh came from her.

"I mean that if I were you, I would've taken every opportunity to push that little pipsqueak off the blimp," she said blatantly. He laughed loudly at that.

"Maybe we are just not as cynical as you are Mai," he finally said, wiping the tears that were forming in the corner of his eye. Mai gave a scoff and leaned back comfortably.

"Please, I'd say that half the people on this blimp are even more cynical than I am," she said, confident.

"I don't know if I would completely disagree with you there," he murmured. They exchanged a quick smile before turning back to the view.

"Yugi's a good person though. He deserves everything he's got," he said ardently. "Heck, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." Mai gave a small smile, before she gave up her bravado again.

"I know. I don't know if I'd agree, but I know that you think that," she said solemnly. "That's why you are such a good friend."

He looked into her deep violet eyes again.

"Thanks," he said gently. He looked down at the sofa and saw that their hands were only inches apart. For some reason, he felt a strong sense of urgency to reach out and cover her hand. He looked up at her and saw that she had noticed the change in the atmosphere of the room as well. Her eyes were intently on him and her lips were parted.

_Bzt! Bzt!_ Joey broke out of the reverie and the feeling disappeared so quickly that it seemed as though it was never there in the first place.

Mai reached into her pocket and took out her phone. She smiled when she saw it and waved it to him so he could see the screen.

"Look who is finally done," she said sarcastically. Joey smiled, but it took a little effort. Mai got up and brushed her skirt down. She began walking out when she looked back at him curiously.

"Why were you in here?" she asked intrigued. Joey shrugged and put his hand into the pockets of his windbreaker. He responded honestly.

"I took a wrong turn trying to find the kitchen," he said with a guilty grin. Mai looked out at the view for a moment before she turned back.

"Doesn't seem so wrong to me," she said amazed before leaving. Joey sat in the dark room illuminated only by the lights of whatever city they were above. His face crinkled into what looked like the shadow of a smile. _No, it doesn't seem so wrong after all_.

The End


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